San Diego Scuba Pros — Local services in San Diego

My son and I have been meaning to get certified for years, and just never got around it; however, we decided to get on it this spring. I did a lot of research and found San Diego Scuba Pros. From the moment I first talked to Lando, I was confident we had made the right choice. He is a great instructor, very patient, flexible and overall a really nice guy! Because of COVID19 the process took a long time, especially after the beaches were closed. My son had a friend staying with us, so there were three of us learning. Ended up doing the pool dives in our own pool, which has pretty good depth. That was a great day, Lando making us feel confident in out first set of dives. After the beaches opened a couple of months later, we set out on our first dives at the Cove, another great day, learning the skills for the first two ocean dives. My son and his friend had to leave to go cross-country; no problem, Lando took me out on my own to finish the ocean dives! And, then took me out with a master diver friend of his to La Jolla Canyon, to make sure I was comfortable at 60 feet - visibility was poor, I got a little claustrophobic, and came up from about 30 feet - they came up with me, super patient and we went down again, after they made me feel more confident, and had a great dive on the edge of the canyon. I just cannot recommend Lando enough, I'm almost afraid to give him such a great recommendation, cos he'll get too busy!! Whether you want to get certified, or just go diving you absolutely cannot go wrong with this company!! Thanks Lando!

Update:

Second review on Lando and San Diego Scuba Pros. As per last review Lando was my dive instructor for open water certification. I've been diving quite a few times with him since that. Last Sunday was a blast. A two tank dive at La Jolla Cove, first in the kelp beds, and second along the Cove to the caves diving several tunnels, and back to shore - sea lions, horn shark, lobster - you can't get better than that on a Sunday morning! Lando is a responsive, fun teacher and tour guide - yes we've gotten to know each other over the past few months, but objectively, you can't go wrong whether for certification or tours...

I got my PADI certification via San Diego Scuba Pros in June 2023.

SD Scuba Pros were professional, responsive, and flexible. Their transparency on their website was helpful, and if I had any questions, they were a quick call away. They also were responsive via email too, which was much appreciated.

Price: I got the group rate (probably the cheapest and most flexible in town from my research), as you can take 3-4 people but work with the instructor to find the best time for your group. It beats other larger locations that have more of a regimented structure. Loved the alternative option for the e-learning section.(saved me $$!)

Rentals: No rentals needed! One perk is that if you're out of town, they have scuba gear that you can borrow (all included in the price). Gear includes your wetsuit, goggles, mask, gloves, hoodie, booties, and scuba equipment (tank, BCD, etc.) But, feel free to bring your own if you have it.

Instruction: My instructor was Lando, and he was so knowledgeable; I felt prepared and confident in my abilities by the end of it for my next scuba trip. He teaches you more than what is not in the books, and has a lot of experience under his belt. While we weren’t able to dive La Jolla Cove as planned due to large currents (our group's only bummer), I appreciated him knowing our limits and making alternatives to give us a learning experience that was level with our abilities.

Additional Dive: While it's not explicitly advertised, when you complete your certification through them, they will take you out again for a complimentary dive (1st dive after certification). Can't wait to dive...

This is review is a bit challenging. We wanted to do a refresher course and Nitrox certification on short notice in July. Lando was the only shop that replied to online queries. His email and text communication was excellent and he was very accommodating on short notice. He also gave us a great price, so I hate to be negative.

We arrived to chaos. There isn’t an office, you just meet him on the grass at La Jolla Shores. He had another group going out, and the female guide leading them seemed confused and disorganized. She and Lando argued about who was using which equipment that they pulled out of the van. Our Nitrox course was rushed and incoherent. Lando degraded PADI and contradicted some of the teaching in the online course. The tanks were not specially marked Nitrox and there was no log book to sign saying we had checked our own gas mix. He had a gauge and we did check. He tried to show us how to plan a Nitrox dive on his computer but seemed confused about how to do it.

The dive was actually with his brother who was very calm and kind. However, my wife’s BC kept automatically inflating and she would rise to the surface, deflate, and descend again, so her dive was a disaster. Luckily it was a shallow dive in a safe area. Overall, the equipment was mediocre at best.

I would say this is a rag-tag operation overall, having done over 100 dives in over 12 countries. I might use them if I were experienced and wanted to save some money. But I would DEFINITELY NOT DO ANY TRAINING...